Musty Digs Too Deep

Rosetta Clarence has a surprising encounter whilst lying on the roof of a playhouse.

  Rosetta Clarence waited, hidden in the dappled shadows, for the badgers to come. It was on her very first day at the Clarence family's new cottage that she noticed the badger trail which was just visible through the long grass of the overgrown lawn. There was an old playhouse, half obscured in the lush foliage of a plum tree, which stood close to the trail.

  The playhouse roof, she thought, would make an ideal place to watch for any badgers using the trail; the leaves of the plum tree formed a thick screen that enveloped the top of the building and the structure was built on stilts so that anyone who lay on the roof was raised well above the height of a man ... and conveniently above any sensitive noses that might be nosing for food below.

  This was a likely occurrence for, as well as providing a hiding place, the tree was fruiting and had dropped a generous scatter of red, juicy plums.  The fruit nestled invitingly in the grass and might tempt the badgers to linger whilst Rosetta watched them unseen from amongst the leaves, or at least that was her idea.

  Looking out from between the branches Rosetta noticed that, as well as having a bird's eye view of the badger trail, she also had an excellent view of the area where she now lived, as the family cottage clung high on the steep slopes of the river valley.

  Looking out from her hiding place behind the branches, she saw the valley expand out from a cramped darkness in the southwest, into the broad open shape of the Vale of Oldmere.

  Even in this wide part of the valley its sides were steep – an impression that was lessened by thick woods which sprouted on the upper slopes - but they were spread far enough apart for sunlight to enter and illuminate the small and pretty village of Oldmere.

  The buildings of the village clung to the Northern part of the valley. They spread down from high up the valley until they encroached onto the flat fields near the road. There were no buildings on the other side of the road, which effectively marked the southern boundary of Oldmere. The village was constructed of solid red stone and had perhaps thirty houses.

   At the far end of the valley – to the east - the sides steepened further and turned to cliffs, which crowded in close to the river and formed a narrow gorge into which the river gushed. It disappeared from sight, eventually reappearing upon distant plains, which had a grey smudge smeared across them indicating a nearby town. Upstream and towards the southwest the river weaved through tightly packed hills towards its source in distant mountains.

  Rosetta found her eyes drawn back to the valley, for in the centre of this wooded amphitheatre, enclosed by a loop of the river and dominating the whole area, was the impressive mass of Oldmere Knoll; a rocky outcrop which rose seemingly magically from the otherwise flat, featureless fields of the valley floor. By the river bank it consisted of cliffs, which rose to such a height that even Oldmere church, tucked into the valley wall opposite, became tiny in comparison. On its other side, the knoll fell away more gradually before rising steeply again to form the valley side.

  Such an eruption would be expected to have a large mediaeval castle perched on top, and at first glance it looked like this was what had been placed there.

  However closer examination showed that, though there were ancient buildings placed on the summit, there were no battlements or fortifications, and instead the structures had the look of an ancient monastery or university. The scatter of modern buildings that sprawled below the old stone lessened this effect and the car park that had been built at the foot of the knoll finished it off completely. The playing fields which rolled out over the nearby valley floor would finally make it absolutely clear to an inquiring mind that what sat on Oldmere Knoll was most a likely school, or at least it was nowadays.

  However Rosetta Clarence would not be going to Oldmere School. It was a private school, famous, and its students came from the richest, or the cleverest, children in the world. Scattered amongst its old pupils there were five prime ministers, tens of government ministers from multiple nations and even one American president. Rosetta's family could not afford the fees that the school demanded. Her mother only had a small income since her father died, and even if the money was available Rosetta secretly feared she would not be able to pass the entrance exams.

  No, Rosetta was due to get on a bus at the stop, situated by Oldmere School gates, and make the five mile journey to the secondary school in a nearby town, and it was there where she would have to face the fears and worries that come with being the unknown face in a class of old friends.

  Rosetta dismissed that unpleasant thought and settled down once more to wait for the badgers, taking a book from her bag as she did; there were several hours to wait before dusk and she understood that badgers rarely moved from their sett in daylight.